


The Way It Is

by missrhondalee



Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Friendship, Sad with a Happy Ending, Unrequited, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missrhondalee/pseuds/missrhondalee
Summary: All hell breaks loose when Laverne finds out Carmine's secret.This work is a sequel toBetter left Unsaid
Relationships: Laverne DeFazio/Carmine Ragusa
Kudos: 3





	The Way It Is

Laverne DeFazio dug through her bag for her keys as she and David made their way to the front door. They were coming back to her place after an evening spent at Cowboy Bills with her friends. Although she'd only met two of his friends, David practically knew all the people in her life. One of whom he wasn't a fan of and it was getting harder not to say anything. After all, by the looks of it, Laverne had known these people all her life while they'd only started dating a few weeks ago. Actually, it has been a month since he and Laverne met at that _Hello, Dolly!_ premiere and although he'd tried to reassure himself that it was all in his head, David knew something was up with that Carmine guy the minute he met him. He remembered meeting a guy who made him feel like he wasn't welcome, like his presence bothered him. He did recall even mistaking them for being together at first. In the beginning, he honestly thought he was imagining things, that Carmine actually only saw Laverne as his friend and nothing more, but now...

As the weeks went by, David's suspicions were getting more and more confirmed and tonight was the last straw. It was starting to affect him mentally and he knew something had to be done before hell would break loose and he'd end up punching him. Carmine had never said anything but it was all in his demeanor, in his eyes. He wasn't scared of him. He just made him uncomfortable and down right pissed off. After all, wouldn't you be pissed if someone was not only in love with your girlfriend but was always around to remind you he wanted her? Apart from Carmine, he and Laverne were having a good time and that was why he wanted to save whatever they had. They stepped into the apartment after she unlocked the door.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked now. "How about Pepsi?" she would suggest milk to go with it but the face he made every time he saw her drink that was enough for her to understand he wouldn't like it.

David looked weird and she picked up on it. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

Although he was nodding, she wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?" now come to think of it, David had been acting strange ever since they left the restaurant twenty minutes ago.

"You look like something's bothering you."

 _Oh, god_. She thought now. She hoped he wasn't freaking out all because her pop kept talking about marriage and grandchildren. It wouldn't be the first time one of her boyfriends would break up with her because of her father scaring them off...

"I swear, my pop was joking about all that marriage stuff or you not being Italian-"

"No. Your father's fine." it was too late to back out now...

He took a deep breath, he's been wanting to say something about this for a while but bringing up the subject was harder than he'd anticipated.

"It's just...one of your friends..."

"Oh, god. What did Squiggy do now?"

David couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of the name. He'd never met someone quite like Squiggy before. "No, not him. Although he is peculiar to say the least..." what was up with the moth collection though? He almost died from laughter when he started naming them, too. He actually was grateful that Squiggy had unintentionally distracted him from Carmine tonight.

Laverne was confused, "Who, then?"

David finally mentioned Carmine's name and how something was up with him.

She was even more confused now. "What are you talking about?"

"He left at one moment. I mean, what was that all about?"

"He had to use the restroom. Like the rest of us have to at some point. You do go to the bathroom too, right? Or is there something you're not telling me? Are you not human?" she was joking, winking playfully but he stopped her as she was leaning in for a kiss. This problem had to be taken care of because it wasn't going to go away on its own.

"I'm serious. That guy...I'm telling you. He's jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Laverne was becoming frustrated now, "This is what this is about? You're paranoid, David."

He said nothing.

"He came with a date! Why would he be jealous? And of what?" she asked again.

"Come on, don't you find it a bit strange that he excused himself right as I leaned in to kiss you?"

"It's just a coincide-"

"No. Every time he sees me he looks like he wants to beat me up. Hell, every time we're together and he's in the room too he can't stop looking at you."

What kind of nonsense...? "He came with a date. You know, Suzy?"

"Did you see him once during the evening being affectionate toward her?"

Why would she pay attention to that? "Uh. I don't know..."

"You see my point? You didn't see him."

She rolled her eyes, "They probably just don't want to display affection in public. Some couples are like that." although when he used to date Shirley, they were always sucking face any chance they got in front of the whole world...

"He's been like this from the moment we met."

"Why would he look at me?"

"Why do you think?"

Did David think there was something between she and Carmine? Okay, sometimes it could appear that way to an outsider because they would kiss but those kisses meant nothing like they didn't even last a second and she didn't recall doing anything of the sort with Carmine in front of him. "This is what your behavior, this.." she gestured in the air, "...is about?" she shook her head, "I can't believe I have to say this but there's nothing going on between Carmine and me. I don't like him like that and-"

"Oh, I know that. I know there's nothing going on between you and him-"

Okay, now she was about to lose it. "You do? Then what's the problem? Why are you stirring shit up?!" she snapped. Great, this was turning into a fight...

"I'm not stirring up anything!" David defended himself, "I just have eyes and this guy wants you!"

Laverne spluttered, "What?!" she couldn't help but laugh because it sounded so absurd, "Are you for real?"

He clicked his tongue, "Yeah."

He was dead serious but Laverne refused to believe it and instead she suspected he was just trying to find a way to get out of this relationship. "That's a load of crap. You know, if you want to break up with me just do it. Don't use one of my friends-"

"I don't want to break up. I'm telling you, your friend Carmine is in love with you. Since the day I met him, I knew something was up-"

She couldn't listen anymore, "You're ridiculous."

"I don't think I am. Hell, _I know_ I'm not."

"I'd know if he liked me like _that_. Come on."

"You're sure about that?"

The fact that she refused to believe him made David quite upset. He knew until the issue would be resolved, he and Laverne couldn't go any further into their relationship. Laverne scoffed watching him walk toward the door.

"You're leaving? Come on." she followed him, "Don't you think you're overreacting, your imagination-"

He turned around so fast it startled her, "I'm not imagining things!"

There was a pause as he tried to calm down. He wasn't shouting anymore but he was still pissed and she could see it in his eyes.

"I think it's best you deal with whatever this is between you and your friend there and when it's done, maybe you and I can see each other again." he then opened the door and walked out.

"Or maybe not!" Laverne shouted slamming the door angrily behind him.

***

Laverne sighed loudly as she placed the basket full of laundry onto her kitchen table. She was grateful today was her day off because she wondered how she'd have been able to focus after everything that went on between she and David last night. Carmine having feelings for her? What kind of nonsense...

She snorted, "Yeah, right." she knew David was too good to be true..obviously something _had_ to go wrong. Wasn't that the story of her life?

She began folding her clothes just as Rhonda walked through the back door.

"Hi ho. Rhonda's here."

She glanced briefly behind her shoulder. "Oh, hi, Rhonda."

"I came to borrow your candles again."

"Romantic dinner, huh? Nice. At least one of us is having fun..."

"Uh-oh. You all right?"

Laverne took a deep breath then bit on her lower lip. "Rhonda, what do you think of David?"

"Well, he's not unpleasant to look at." she winked, "You catch my drift?"

Laverne chuckled, "Besides that..."

"Rhonda's joking. Honestly? I think you hit the jackpot with this one."

"I thought so too but..." and she really did. They were getting along so well including sexually. She had goosebumps every time he'd touch her, everything was perfect around him. It was like they were made for each other.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"We had this ridiculous fight." she shook her head, still not believing any of this crap. "It's so stupid. He says Carmine has feelings for me. I mean, this is complete cra-"

_Oh, shit._ Rhonda wasn't expecting this and the look on her face betrayed her. She'd kept her mouth shut ever since she found out about it. She wasn't one to betray her friends. Besides, if she were honest, if it wasn't about her she lost interest pretty quick and didn't see the point of telling anyone. 

"What?"

"I didn't say anything..."

Laverne gasped, "Oh, my god. You mean it's true?"

Rhonda stammered, she even looked a bit pale there. "I don't want to get involved."

"It's too late for that."

Rhonda felt so uncomfortable, she pretended to look at her watch. "Well, would you look at the time? Rhonda has to go and..." she tried thinking of an excuse, "and get ready for an audition. It had completely slipped my mind." she smacked herself on the forehead chuckling nervously, "Can you believe it?"

Laverne stopped her as she was heading for the door and then almost threatened her. "Rhonda, how much do you care about your hair there..."

Rhonda gulped in fear as she watched her friend grab the scissors. "You wouldn't dare..."

Laverne opened up the scissors and now she was panicking.

"Okay. Okay."

"Just please don't tell Carmine. I mean, technically I'm not the one who brought it up-"

"Rhonda...."

"He trusts me and he didn't want you to know-"

"How long-"

"How long he's had feelings for you? I honestly don't know."

"How long have you known?"

"Since the premiere."

"You mean the evening I met David?"

Rhonda nodded and although Laverne knew deep down, this was one hundred percent real she still had a hard time believing it.

"Come on, you're pulling my leg there, right? Carmine doesn't like me like that."

Okay, now she was freaking out. So much so that she needed to sit down. "Oh, god. Not again." she'd already been through this with Lenny a thousand years ago. She'd always known he liked her a little but the guy had developed this insane crush on her and her friendship with him was never the same after that. She always had to be careful of what she did not to hurt him especially in the first couple of months...Fuck.

"What do you mean, 'not again'?"

Laverne almost forgot Rhonda was still here, this was how much this was distressing her. "That'll be all, Rhonda."

"Please, don't be mad at Rhonda. I was just-"

"I know you were keeping your promise."

"You won't get me in trouble, will you Laverne?" in that moment Rhonda realized she really liked being a part of their little group of friends there, even if she'd never admit it to anyone, and she would hate it if it wouldn't be the case anymore. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief when Laverne told her she wouldn't.

She told her she needed to be alone. "Just take the candles and go."

Laverne groaned loudly as she buried her face in her hands. What next? Squiggy falls in love with her, too?! Why did she always end up in these situations?

She was still asking herself that question as she reluctantly made her way up to Carmine's place half an hour later. She needed to gather her thoughts because she knew what was about to take place wasn't going to be fun for either of them. She came into his place without knocking. "Carmine!"

Carmine emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist...and nothing else. He'd just taken a shower after working out.

"Hey, Laverne. What's up?"

Great, he had to only be wearing a towel. Was her misery amusing to the Lord?! In the past, she would have caught a glance. Let's be real, he wasn't unpleasant to look at but everything was different now and it just made this entire thing even worse.

She took a deep breath, "Can you put something on? Please. It's important."

Laverne looked so serious it unsettled him. "Important? What's going on?"

"Get dressed."

Worry began to spread through him as he stepped toward her. He actually didn't recall ever seeing her like this before. "Are you all right? Did something happen?"

"Go put some pants on!" she snapped although she didn't mean to.

"Okay. Okay. Geez."

He came back two minutes later fully dressed, "Okay. What's going on? What's this about?"

There was the longest pause until she found the courage to talk. This was tough but she had to do it. Just like a band aid, one motion and right off.

"I know, Carmine."

He was confused, "You know what?"

She was looking straight at him and it only took Carmine half a second to realize what was going on. Color drained from his face almost instantly. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"I know how you feel about me."

Oh, God. If he had the option to jump off a cliff right now, he honestly would.

"Please, don't deny it. Be honest." although seeing how pale he looked, she was a hundred percent sure. "It's true, isn't it?"

A long pause then he finally, reluctantly admitted it. He didn't have much of a choice at this point anyway. "Yeah."

Although he knew he was most likely on the verge of losing a lifelong friendship, Carmine still felt relieved that the secret was out. It was never a good thing to keep these things bottled up.

"Oh, Carmine..."

She was looking straight at him again but he avoided her gaze now.

Carmine shook his head as anger replaced relief quicker than he'd imagined. He couldn't believe Rhonda had betrayed him. She was the only one he told, okay only because she figured it out but even so...he'd trusted her nonetheless and look what good it did him. "Rhonda spilled the beans, huh?"

"No."

He brought a hand to his face, "I'm going to kill her. Oh, my god.." he would never, ever hurt anyone and even less a woman, but he'd trusted her so much with this like his life depended on it and in a way it was the case because his friendship with Laverne was one of the most important things to him.

"It's not Rhonda."

"I only told her!" he shouted now and they began fighting.

"Rhonda's not the issue here, Carmine."

"If not her, who then, huh? Tell me this. Who?!" 

"David figured it out, okay?" she yelled back, "Who cares how I found out. How I know is not the issue here. God..."

There was another interminable pause as Carmine sat down while she remained standing.

Carmine felt his life slowly falling apart. To most people, it might be extreme to feel this way but to people like them, it wasn't. They didn't have money nor family or barely, in his case he didn't anymore, so his friends were the only thing left and he was about to lose his most precious one.

"How long have you been feeling like this-"

He stared at the floor. "Does it matter?"

"No. I guess not..."

"I shouldn't have admitted it to her." he should've denied it when Rhonda said anything...

"So you were going to keep this to yourself?"

"Yeah. And it's been working, I mean-"

"No."

"It was fine-"

"It wasn't, Carmine. Secrets always come out in the end. Someone always notices or-"

"Yeah, Rhonda-"

"Oh, my god. For fuck's sake, will you let it go!" she was losing it now.

"I told you, Rhonda's not how I found out." and that was true. She refused to believe David but she did find out from him first. If he hadn't brought it up, she still wouldn't know because Rhonda would still have kept this to herself.

"These things always end up by blowing up-"

He scoffed, "I can see that." he finally managed to look at her only to notice how pissed Laverne was and he honestly didn't know how to take it. Was she angry with him for having feelings for her? It wasn't like it was his choice to begin with...like he had any control over it.

She was angry but not at him, at herself. She'd already been through this before. "I can't believe this. It's happening again." although in her defense, unlike Lenny whom she knew since they were little kids how he felt about her therefore the entire thing with him could have been avoided if she'd been careful, Carmine however was a complete surprise.

He rose from the sofa as she became agitated, he wasn't the only one whose life was being turned upside down. "Don't get mad, okay?"

He stammered, "I...I didn't mean for any of this to happen. But it's just the way it is and we can't change it." and god knows he tried not to feel this way toward her but nothing worked. Hell, it actually did the opposite. Whenever he tried, he just ended up falling deeper. Carmine sniffled loudly, he was on the verge of tears because so much was at stake here.

"I'm the one losing-"

"You haven't lost anything and you _won't_ lose anything."

He nodded sadly, "Yeah, I will. I will because our friendship as we know it is over. It will never be like before and we both know it." Laverne started crying at the sound of these words.

His lower lip was quivering now, "I knew this would happen if you found out. I knew it."

"Our friendship's over. I mean, look at you and Lenny. The guy was never-"

"Don't compare yourself. It's not the same. Lenny's liked me since we were kids and I've always known."

"With you, it's fixable. It's recent. I assume it is, yeah?"

He wasn't answering right away and that caused her to panic. "Oh, god. You weren't lying to me when you shouted you didn't love me either when we had that ridiculous fling, right?" Could it be that he's actually liked her for years ever since what happened between them back in Milwaukee and he'd kept it secret all this time?

"Nah. I didn't love you..." he paused, "...then." this happened under completely different circumstances. Shirley's sudden departure and all the changes it caused combined with loneliness were responsible for this. An awkward silence followed after that. She knew the longer they didn't talk, the more awkward it would get so Laverne forced herself.

"It's definitely recent?"

Carmine still wouldn't say how long because truth be told, he didn't know the exact day he started feeling like this. He nodded silently instead.

"We're going to need boundaries then." obviously all the kisses, all the flirtatious jokes. All of these things they couldn't do anymore.

"It's not going to work." could you blame him for being pessimistic?

Laverne refused to hear that. "It has to!" she snapped again without meaning to, it was getting really hard to control her emotions now. “I've already lost two friends this year.” Shirley obviously, and Lenny who took off to reenlist in the army.

"I'm not about to lose another especially to something that's fixable, that we can move on from if we work on it."

"That's easy for you-"

"Nothing about this is easy."

She took a deep breath, "Okay. How about this? How about you decide when you want us to hang out and we each can make time-"

"So, we're gonna need a schedule to see each other now? Is that what you're saying?" that proposal or offer whatever the fuck this was, only upset him more. "If that's the case, then what's the point?" friendships had to be spontaneous if you needed some schedule to see each other then it wasn't friendship. It sounded more like a chore.

There was another long pause as they simultaneously wiped their tears. They had no recollection of ever being this emotional with each other in the past and it showed because the awkwardness was indescribable. But if they learned anything from this, it was that they definitely loved one another. If not as lovers then as best friends for sure.

Laverne shrugged, "I'm trying here. Do you want us to be friends or not? Because if you don't, if you think it will be easier then I can just walk out of here..." she pointed to the door, "...and that's it and you can just pretend you don't know me whenever we pass each other in the hallway. Do you want this? Because I don't."

"No. I-"

"So what do you want, then? What would make it..easier. What can I do?"

"I don't know." Carmine said honestly.

"You need to help me here, Carmine. You've got to tell me what to do. Please."

Another long pause then he mumbled something about her dating life. "Don't be with him around me."

She could definitely understand that. "That can be arranged. What else?"

He was shrugging now and avoiding her gaze but his demeanor betrayed him as she realized what he had in mind. "You're not going to pack up and leave. Are you Carmine?" only the thought of him walking out just like Shirley did terrified her. Shirley's departure had literally traumatized her emotionally in the beginning and she couldn't go through all this pain again. Plus if that happened, this time it would actually be because of her and Laverne knew, she would never get over it. She didn't do anything wrong though but she knew she would feel guilty probably forever.

"I mean, you wouldn't do that." she wanted to add 'to me' but chose not to. "Would you?" she was crying so hard now the tears blurred her vision and she could barely see him. "Please, promise me you won't do that. I can give you all the space you need. Just don't leave."

"Wouldn't it be best for everyone though?"

She shook her head frantically, "No. We're adults. We can get through this, I know we can. Don't choose the easy way out just because it's there."

Even if it wouldn't be permanent, deep down inside Carmine knew he still needed to get out of here otherwise he would lose it. "I need to get away. If I stay.." he broke off, "I have to-"

"But you'll be back, right?"

Again, he wasn't answering right away and she was panicking so much Laverne was now shaking uncontrollably. "I'm not leaving this apartment until you promise to come back."

Only seeing how distraught she was made Carmine realize he couldn't do that to her. He couldn't leave and never look back. Even more when he knew Shirley abandoned her quite recently, too. He didn't want to wake up every day wondering how she was holding up and live with this on his conscience because he knew the guilt would drive him insane. He was still going away but not forever and he told her now.

"This isn't goodbye. I promise you'll see me again." he wiped his tears, 'I just need to get away for a few weeks. I think it would help us both and when I'm back we can take it from there.' now to him, it sounded like a reasonable solution. "Does that sound fair to you?"

Nodding silently, Laverne flung her arms around him.

They only let go of each other when they managed to stop crying. Which in all honesty took forever and their faces were still very red.

She pointed a finger at him almost smiling now, "You better be telling me the truth, Ragusa. Or I will find you and kick your ass so hard you'll never be able to sit down again."

He'd seen Laverne beat up a few people in the past, one of them Rosie Greennbaum and he knew what she was capable of in that area. Carmine couldn't help but chuckle and she was laughing too now. "I believe you really will."

She asked where he was gonna go. "I don't know. Vegas, maybe." he hadn't thought it through yet.

"Las Vegas, huh?" she winked, "Casinos and showgirls. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." she then messed up his hair playfully.

"Really? Again with the hair?"

She pouted, "But it's so soft. I can’t help it."

"You can't, huh?"

"Nope."

"Let's see if you feel the same if I mess up yours."

Feeling playful, Carmine not only reciprocated by messing up her hair but also tickling her. "No!" Laverne squealed, shrieked with laughter.


End file.
